Everest: Why We Climb
The following article is a piece I wrote for Policy Mic. It is an essay about the power of human spirit and sheer will. The reason why we cannot turn away from obsactacles and the reasons why we will always be exsistential.
Enjoy and share.
Especially hikers. Because the mountain is there, that is why we hike.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/8663/climbing-mt-everest-tests-the-limits-of-human-exploration
Damyang
Damyang is known for it’s bamboo, Sequoias, and noodles. It is very close to Gwangju and a bus will have you there in a half hour. It is a quiet little town with a great bike path along the river. The bike path continues along the river through Gwangju and then onto Mokpo on the southern coast.
We rented a tandem bike and we used it to explore along the river bank. A short ride will bring you into endless stretches of farmland; a very welcome sight coming from the city. Women could be seen under umbrellas picking vegetables off of the bike path. Nice and slow-paced.
After the bike ride we had some “famous” noodles. Everywhere in Korea is famous for something. We sat on an elevated bamboo platform and ate them overlooking the river.
A really neat cafe and gallery sits across the river from “Noodle Street” and it is worth the look.
Damyang is a great escape and worth a Sunday afternoon.
The Open Road
The open road called. It was not a road in the sense of open stretches of highway, but rather the opening of the mind to see the road. It was everywhere around me, all at once. Each choice was an opening to a path that I had never seen before. The dust and dirt and the flowers and trees and the birds chirping and the cars rumbling and the people talking all showed me something new and different.
Nothing could be wrong.
It was completely open. Complete freedom. Each choice was a universe opening up in itself to a whole new string of human possibility. In my palms I gave the world a new direction. I alone controlled our fate.
The open road has curves and twists and nothing that lies ahead is known.
But each choice opens it. The mind is as free as it ever will be. Black or milk? Toasted or not? Left or right? Alone? Call her back.
The open road. The spirit cannot be fit into a bottle, I think. Don’t make a bottle. I will shatter the bottle and let free a hurricane upon this empty lane or bustling subway. The winds of change or a dimensional shift is chosen by me and me alone.
The open road. I’m hitting the open road.
But, it changes you.
Deeper and deeper the trail leads into the woods until you hit that point. I’ve hit it. I’m on top of the mountain and it is 2pm. 851 meters above the ground. Backtracking will make my journey short and unfulfilled, while going forward leads me to tough decisions; the place where I can never go back. Only onward.
At the base of the mountain I choose to go onto Seonamsa and try my luck with the city bus, unsure of language or time; it is too long gone to return from where I came. The sun sets.
It is only me and the open road.
Goodnight Harold
Agnes walked through the door and didn’t look back.
She had decided tea really wasn’t her thing.
A new song called A Valid Case for Fidel Castro.
What’s on my mind
Do you ever daydream and catch a very distinct memory? Out of nowhere?
I was just daydreaming out the window and I recalled a very distinct memory. I was at the supermarket with my mom, I must have been about 9 or 10…maybe younger. We shopped at a place called Price Rite. It was, and still is, a no-frills supermarket geared towards low-income families. Woonsocket, where I lam from is not a very affluent city.
A man was collecting some shopping carts from the parking lot, or what carts there were out in the lot. They are the kind where you put a quarter in and return it later to redeem the quarter. He was homeless. Another man came up to him and asked him “If he was hungry and wanted something to eat.”
Then they walked to the McDonalds across the parking lot.
That takes courage and that is caring for all sentient beings.
We need more of that.
A track that I starting singing on my walk home to myself then I quickly recorded it the minute I was in the door.
In honor of the avengers movie I thought I would post my captain America Ink I got two years ago. Captain America has always been my favorite marvel hero. Tattoo completed by Mano Tatz of Hoboken, New Jersey.
Mine too!
Source: fuckyeahtattoos
Enjoy it!
Meant to Be
First you’re born
and guided
and each step was meant to happen exactly as it happened.
The Earth moved exactly as it would for all time
and you picked up a tissue that fell on the floor
exactly as you were meant to
Someone had in mind that you call your mom
or look at the stars
or pet the dog
or cook dinner for your girlfriend
or make love
or get drunk
or fall apart
or lose your keys
Someone had the good mind to
let you make a mistake
say you’re sorry
look for something lost
relish something found
remain hidden
lay bear
For that we spin, the world
your sister
your mother
your father
your daughter
spin just as they should
just as you should
until the day you are called back to where you came from.
On the Other Side
Two men watched each other from opposing sides of a wall. The wall was rough and slightly clouded but they could see each other well enough to know they were both alive and human.
They continued to watch and record the other’s movements. It was after all, rather cutting edge. It is not everyday you find the edge, let alone see something on the other side of it.
After some time, one of the men closed his notebook and looked back from where he came and suddenly his world felt rather small. Like he traveled such a long way and he squandered the journey.
On the other side of the glass, the other man continued to write. What interesting developments these were.
A short tune with stream of consciousness ramblings. Enjoy.
A quick new one. Enjoy. Simple Key of C tune.
While on my comic bender:
My other favorite syndicated comic of all time is The Far Side. Gary Larson’s creation spawned the world of absurdist comic humor. His comics are all at once ridiculous, intelligent, hilarious and weird. They take a scientific stance in a bizarro world if they makes any sense.
His characters? Anyone and anything! They appear similar, but they are never consistent. They come in and leave. They are Billy far from a toy store. They are cows driving. They are deer talking ironically about “bummer” birthmarks.
The Far Side was the first and is still the only comic I can read alone and laugh audibly out loud. It is just original and funny. That’s all.
The Far Side ran from 1980 until 1995.
The Far Side also produced two animated TV shows in 1994 and 1997, Tales from the Far Side and Tales from the Far Side II, that provide a perfect abstract take to the comics, moving without rhyme or reason through various Far Side comic panels in a fluid picture show that is at times both hilarious and disturbing. They really are unsettling cartoons that really fit the persona of The Far Side.
The Far Side is a comic that makes us think and not think all at once. It makes us stop and wonder, but at the same time makes us take the comic as nothing deeper than it is, a talking shoe or a bug’s nightmare.
It is wonderful and perfect. Larson had a good run with the comic and like Watterson, walked out before it became irrelevant.
The Avengers: A Review
Being the fan of comic books that I am, I was thrilled when The Avengers decided to hit Korea as soon as it did! Last night, after reserving my tickets, I went off to see the film in 3D at an IMAX theater and it absolutely did not disappoint.
The cast is all here and in typical Marvel style it is consistent with the story arches that surround it, in the movies at least. Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye are all brought in by Nick Fury of SHIELD to stop the demi-god Loki from invading Earth and putting humans in their rightful place of servitude. They are later joined in the fight by Thor, Loki’s half-brother and the God of Thunder, protector of Earth.
Freedom is a misconception of what we want, Loki argues, it brings us nothing but greed and chaos. Servitude is just more simple. Let someone control you.
An interesting argument.
The film was action packed and each member of The Avengers was spot-lighted equally. Each character was absolutely necessary and every line and action led to a natural end. For good or for bad, it was orchestrated towards a triumph.
Personally, I love when comics and the comic films are consistent; so having Thor, Iron Man and Captain America all flow into the Avengers movie with throwbacks to their respective movies really adds to the universe surrounding the films. It gives depth to the story and like in the comics, it gives a feeling that more is happening off the screen and we’ll have to catch all the snapshots of the heros to get a full picture. A nice touch was introducing Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger leading directly into The Avengers movie.
Because there is always a BIG picture.
Mark Ruffalo brings a kind of world-weary charm to Bruce Banner (The Hulk) and I have hopes that he will reprise the role in the future if he is called to do so.
Scarlet Johansson comes off as a strong Black Widow and it was neat to have the background of her character thrown in to the movie.
The movie gets a great review from me and it also moves the comic book films forward in a positive direction. Check out the film!
Also! Stay tuned after the credits…that’s all I’m sayin’!
